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5 Must Have Sleep Gifts for Your Baby Registry

baby registry
Christine Brown

Christine Brown

True or False…

5 months pregnant with twins, walking into Buy Buy Baby with my handsome husband, going through the process to start our baby registry. I got so overwhelmed in the first aisle that I started crying so we had to leave?!

TRUE!

Many parents are in similar situations and now that I’m an experienced Mom and certified child sleep consultant, I want to share with you some tried and true baby sleep products to add to your baby registry.  These products have worked for my family and my clients, to help make the newborn and infant stage easier to survive and thrive.

If you aren’t expecting, these make beautiful baby gifts, even if they aren’t on their baby registry. Mom and Dad will both thank you endlessly when their babies to sleep longer and more soundly!

Dr. Harvey Karp’s Happiest Baby on the Block DVD

This is one product I can’t recommend enough.  Dr. Karp has mastered the art of soothing a crying baby and shares his secrets to help us learn to be our own baby whisperer.

Room Darkening Solution

In the early weeks, your baby will be able to sleep just about anywhere, but once they start to give you the social smile around 6-8 weeks, babies become more social.  Once this happens, your baby will begin to fight sleep to socialize.  This means that you’ll want to start putting your baby down to sleep in consistent space this is optimized for sleep.  One of the keys to optimizing their sleeping space is to add a full blackout solution, like Blackout EZ window covers.

A dark sleep environment helps to cue our baby that dark means sleepy time and light is for being awake.  An added bonus is that when your child sleeps in a dark room, it can help with less early wakeups!  And who doesn’t love sleeping in even a little later?

White Noise

A sound machine that play continuous white noise is an absolute must-have.  It feels really strange for babies to sleep in silence. They are used to the consistent loud, shushing noise they heard in utero.  My favorite white noise solutions is the Marpac Dohm.  I have MANY other favorites that you can see here.  If you do a lot of traveling, a portable option may be a good option to have as well.  They are portable and have a rechargeable battery if the power goes out.

You may want two sound machines, especially if you have animals or older children!  A second unit the hallway outside of their room provides a great secondary sound barrier.

Sleep Sacks

Once your baby breaks out of the swaddle, no longer likes being swaddled or they begin rolling, it’s time to start thinking about sleep sacks.

Due to baby’s startle (Moro) reflex, younger babies wake themselves up if their arms are completely free during sleep periods.  Another reason I love sleep sacks is because babies really love the coziness.  Sleep sacks help keep them warm and feeling safe, like they felt in the womb.

For younger babies that aren’t yet rolling, I recommend the Swaddle Up. This sleep sack keeps babies arms in a natural upward position, with gentle all-over pressure.  It still allows access to their hands, which is key for learning to self-soothe.

Once babies start rolling back and forth and they are ready to choose their sleep position, I recommend the Zipadee-Zip.   This sleep sack provides the coziness of a womb-like environment, but also gives baby full range of movement to roll over and wiggle around safely and freely.

Once babies have outgrown the startle reflex, in between 3-6 months, and you still want them to have the coziness of a sleep sack, I recommend the Snuggle Buddy.  The reason that I love this product is that it has two super soft built in lovies.  Lovies provide comfort and self-soothing to babies, but aren’t recommended in a crib until 1 year to help reduce the risk of suffocation.  Because these lovies are sown into the sleep sack, they are safe, always in reach and can’t fall out of the crib.

Gift Certificate for a Newborn Sleep Consultation

No one really talks about newborn sleep in all the birth preparedness classes! So a lot of new parents feel really unprepared once their baby arrives.

A gift certificate for a Newborn Sleep Consultation is priceless.  Meeting with a certified sleep consultant will help teach what to expect during the newborn sleep period and beyond.

During this session, you are provided insight into:

  • What’s normal for newborn sleep
  • Your baby’s sleepy cues
  • The optimal sleep environment
  • Soothing routines and a flexible scheduling
  • Navigating sleep regressions and milestones
  • Soothing your babying (with no crying) to help them learn the skills they need to sleep independently
  • Feeling more confident as a parent
  • Enjoying the newborn stage

I really hope that these baby sleep suggestions make it onto your baby registry! They WILL help your baby to sleep better!

To check out my other favorite products, visit www.bellalunafamily.com/shop.

Also, for customer reviews and to stay up to date on the latest and greatest for baby sleep, follow us on Facebook  and Instagram!

Many of the products above are Amazon associate links, which means that I will receive a small percentage for referring you to purchase these products.  That’s being said, they are all tested and highly recommended by me!

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